"Oh my gosh." Saira said beside Nico, taking a bite out of a meat steak with a wooden fork. "Real food."
They were in a bar, with the rowdy noise of the crowd drowning the building with a hearty atmosphere. Unlike the formal and reserved tone of the Lelselone fairies, the bar was filled with flightless fairies that sang and danced along to the flutes and drums with no care in the world.
Jason downed a mug of beer. They were on a table on the farside- lit up by the flickering red orb affixed on the wooden wall. The group was sharing dinner together, with Champ under the table eating table scraps- his body now fatter and healthier than when they first took him in.
"Thanks to the quests, we can actually eat decent food now." Jason hiccuped with a face the color of beet red. "We can finally focus on saving up for gears, weapons, and equipment."
Kai leaned on Nico as he blurted out all kinds of gibberish. "Oh god, he's blackout drunk."
Kristine followed in Kai's footsteps- blurting out words beside Jason which prompted a laugh from Hena sipping on a fruit juice.
"What's wrong with them?" Saira said.
"Probably keeping himself afloat." Nico said, eyeing Kai now sprawled asleep on the table. "Hena just broke the news that the tower might not have a top- the one condition of getting back home to Earth. We all know how much Kai wants to go back."
"I want to go back too," Jason said, staring at the beer in between his hands. "That's why our goal is to eventually climb the tower, but what Hena just said complicated things."
Jason then turned to Nico and Saira. "How about you guys? What's the plan?"
Nico turned to Saira who was munching on a meat steak, giving him a nod. "Nothing's set in stone, but we're planning on settling down here."
"You guys are getting married?"
"Not that kind." Nico coughed. "We just plan on staying here on the first floor. Don't get me wrong though, magic powers are cool and all that- but in the end when you die, you die. When you climb the tower the monsters get stronger and stronger, and I don't think I have the courage to face all that."
"So the plan is that you and Saira will continue adventuring with us until we climb to the second floor."
"Yup."
"How does that work again?" Saira said, pouring herself a drink. "Climbing the tower, I mean."
"Through the World Dungeon." Hena said. "To clear it you need a huge expedition made up of twenty or so people, and it's not easy. Generally it takes half a month or more to clear the monsters and kill the boss, and only the ones who participated in the expedition can climb up to the upper floor."
"Wait," Nico said. "How did those merchants from Lelselone then get up the higher floors and back down again to trade? They don't exactly look like the fighting type."
"Once you've climbed to higher floors, you can freely travel to the lower ones." Hena said. "As for the merchants, guilds generally invest in many things- them included. They have high-ranking adventurers take them through the World Dungeons to be able to trade with other floors, and vice versa. I'm not really knowledgeable in economics, so that's about the only thing I know."
"The tower really is a complex place." Nico muttered. "Oh yeah Hena, are you going to climb the tower too?"
"I think so, yeah." Hena took a sip of juice. "I've always been fascinated by the tower ever since I was a kid- plus there's this business with Kalista and all that. Climbing the tower may just be the change of pace I need."
"So it's just you and me." Nico turned to Saira, prompting looks from Hena and Jason.
"Are you sure you guys aren't dating?"
"Well if Nico wants to, I don't mind." Saira wrapped her arm around Nico's, staring at him just before downing a drink.
"It might be fun."
. . .
"Did you really mean what you said?" Hena walked alongside Nico who was carrying an unconscious Kai on his back. On Hena's back was Saira, blacked out from drinking alongside Kai and Kristine.
"I did. But at the same time- didn't." Nico said, head hung as he stared at the green canopy above. The dim red orbs around flickered warm lights as they walked over a wooden bridge high up in the sky, heading towards the inn they were staying at.
"I do like Saira, she's a pretty fun person to be around with." Nico glanced to Saira on Hena's back. "But I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Life's already complicated as it is, with all the hunting monsters and surviving thingy."
"You could've just said that other than the resounding no you gave her earlier." Hena gave Nico a deadpan look.
"I blurt out things I don't mean many times."
"That's not an excuse. Stop being a child Nico, you're twenty years old."
"Come on, you know she was just joking."
"You have no idea."
. . .
"She's avoiding me." Nico said, glancing to Saira who was with Hena and Kristine, sitting beside the creek. The bright sun was peeking through leaves and branches, reflecting against the crystalline water.
"I sure wonder why." Kai said, inspecting the pool of loot in front of them.
"I thought you were drunk that night."
"Jason told me about it. And here I thought you were interested in Saira."
"I am but-"
"But." Kai cut Nico off.
"It's been two days." Nico sighed, petting Champ who was sleeping beside him. "It feels very weird with her not talking and all that."
"You're being surprisingly rude, you know that?" Kai said, dropping the loot in his hand and turning to Nico. "She gathered up the courage to say that in front of you- but you just dropped the no card, didn't elaborate further nor gave her any reasons, and now you're asking why she's ignoring you?"
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Well, go and say what you actually mean then." Kai said, gesturing to Saira. "Don't play around, don't cover up anything. Say what you think. God you're such a mess when it comes to this kind of thing."
"Aight." Nico stood up. "Just so you know, this is the first time I've ever been in a situation like this, so don't expect too much."
"Who would've guessed." Kai said, rolling his eyes. "Go get her champ."
Champ then pounced on Kai, licking at his face. "Not you, by the way."
Thoughts and words clashed inside Nico, but swallowed them all as he went on his way towards Saira.
"This might be the hardest thing I've ever done." Nico muttered. "Forget goblins."